Iran's progress in enriching uranium has rendered unrealistic world powers' quest to prevent Tehran from gaining nuclear expertise, the U.N. atomic watchdog agency director said. Mohamed ElBaradei did not take issue with a U.N. Security Council demand that Iran suspend enrichment in exchange for a suspension of sanctions against it and talks on a solution that would allay suspicion Tehran is trying to build atom bombs."Quite clearly, suspension is a requirement by the Security Council, and I would hope the Iranians would listen to the world community," ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said in remarks published by the New York Times and confirmed by an IAEA official.
"But from a proliferation perspective, the fact of the matter is that one of the purposes of suspension - keeping them from getting the knowledge - has been overtaken by events," ElBaradei said.